{"id":530,"date":"2013-07-13T01:28:39","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=530"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:28:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:39","slug":"04-life-in-baroda-vol-26-on-himself-volume-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/26-on-himself-volume-26\/04-life-in-baroda-vol-26-on-himself-volume-26","title":{"rendered":"-04_Life in Baroda.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

II. LIFE<\/font><\/b> IN <\/span><\/b>
\nBARODA<\/b>:<\/b><\/font> 1893-1906<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>APPOINTMENTS IN <\/b>BARODA<\/b> <\/b>STATE<\/b> .<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He was first put in the
\nLand Settlement Department, for a short time in the Stamps Office, then in the
\nCentral Revenue Office and in the Secretariat. Afterwards without joining the
\nCollege and while doing other work he was lecturer in French at the College and
\nfinally at his own request was appointed there as Professor of English. All
\nthrough, the Maharaja used to call him whenever something had to be written
\nwhich needed careful wording; he also employed him to prepare some of his
\npublic speeches and in other work of a literary or educational character.
\nAfterwards Sri Aurobindo became the Vice-Principal of the College and was for
\nsome time acting Principal. Most of the personal work for the Maharaja was done
\nin an unofficial capacity; he was usually invited to breakfast with the
\nMaharaja at the Palace and stayed on to do this work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo was never
\nappointed to the post of Private Secretary. He was put first in the Settlement
\nDepartment, not as an officer but to learn the work, then in the Stamps and
\nRevenue departments; he was for some time put to work in the Secretariat for
\ndrawing up dispatches, etc. Finally, he oscillated towards the College and
\nentered it at first as part time lecturer in French, afterwards as a regular
\nProfessor teaching English and was finally appointed Vice-Principal. Meanwhile,
\nwhenever he thought fit, the Maharaja would send for him for writing letters,
\ncomposing speeches or drawing up documents of various kinds which needed
\nspecial care in the phrasing of the language. All this was quite informal;
\nthere was no appointment as Private Secretary. Once the Maharaja took Sri
\nAurobindo as Secretary in his Kashmir tour, but there
\nwas much friction between them during the tour and the experiment was not
\nrepeated.<\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 9<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

INVITATIONS BY THE
\nGAEKWAR FOR MEALS<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/b><\/p>\n

These invitations were
\nusually for some work to be done and could not be refused.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nTHE MAHARAJA’S \u00a0<\/span>CERTIFICATE<\/b> <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"Diligent, serious,
\netc."\u2014 this valuation of Sri Aurobindo’s qualities was not the Maharaja’s.
\nHe gave him a certificate for ability and intelligence but also for lack of
\npunctuality and regularity. If instead of "diligent and serious" and
\n"a career of meritorious service" it were said that he was brilliant
\nand quick and efficient in work, it would be more accurate. The description, as
\nit is, gives an incorrect picture.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nThe authorities objected to his patriotic activities.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is the reference to the Baroda
\nauthorities?<\/p>\n

Sri
\nAurobindo is not aware that his utterances or writings were ever objected to by
\nthem. His articles in the Indu Prakash <\/i>were anonymous, although many
\npeople in Bombay knew that he was
\nthe writer. Otherwise, except for a few speeches at functions in the Palace
\nitself such as the reception of Dr. S. K. Mullick which had nothing to do with
\npolitics, he spoke mainly as Chairman of the Baroda College Union; there was no
\nobjection made at any time and he continued to preside over some of these
\ndebates until he left Baroda. It
\nwas in England
\nwhile at Cambridge that he made
\nrevolutionary speeches at the meetings of the Indian Majlis which were recorded
\nas a black mark against him by the India Office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nWhen he arrived in <\/span><\/i>India<\/span><\/i>, Sri Aurobindo knew no Indian
\nlanguage except a smattering of Bengali which was one of the subjects he had to
\nstudy for the I.C.S.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bengali was not a subject
\nfor the competitive examination for the <\/b>I.C.S. It<\/span> was after he had passed the competitive examination
\n <\/p>\n

\nPage – 10<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

that Sri Aurobindo as
\na probationer who had chosen Bengal as his province
\nbegan to learn Bengali. The course of study provided was a very poor one; his
\nteacher, a retired English Judge from Bengal was not
\nvery competent, but what was learnt was more than a few words. Sri Aurobindo
\nfor the most part learnt Bengali for himself afterwards in Baroda.<\/p>\n

\nSTUDY OF BENGALI \u00a0<\/span>IN \u00a0<\/span><\/b>BARODA<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the learning of
\nBengali, it may be said that before engaging the teacher, Sri Aurobindo
\nalready knew enough of the language to appreciate the novels of Bankim and the
\npoetry of Madhusudan. He learned enough afterwards to write himself and to
\nconduct a weekly in Bengali, writing most of the articles himself, but his
\nmastery over the language was not at all the same as over English and he did
\nnot venture to make speeches in his mother tongue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo had
\nregular lessons in Bengali from Dinendra Kumar Roy at <\/i>Baroda<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, there were no regular
\nlessons. Dinendra lived with Sri Aurobindo as a companion and his work was
\nrather to help him to correct and perfect his knowledge of the language and to
\naccustom him to conversation in Bengali than any regular teaching.<\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo was not a
\npupil of Dinendra Kumar; he had learnt Bengali already by himself and only
\ncalled in Dinendra to help him in his studies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In <\/i>Baroda<\/i>,
\nSri Aurobindo engaged Pundits and started mastering both Bengali and Sanskrit.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A teacher was engaged for Bengali,
\na young Bengali litt\u00e9rateur \u2014 <\/i>none for Sanskrit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He studied Hindi also
\nat <\/i>Baroda<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 11<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sri Aurobindo never
\nstudied Hindi; but his acquaintance with Sanskrit and other Indian languages
\nmade it easy for him to pick up Hindi without any regular study and to
\nunderstand it when he read Hindi books or newspapers. He did not learn Sanskrit
\nthrough Bengali, but direct in Sanskrit itself or through English.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In <\/i>Baroda<\/i>
\nafter making a comparative study of all literatures, history, etc., he began
\nto realise the importance of the Veda.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No. Started study of Veda
\nat Pondicherry.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\n1895 were published, for circulation among friends only, his poems, five of
\nwhich were written in <\/i>England<\/i>
\nand the rest at <\/i>Baroda<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is the
\nother way round; all the poems in the book [Songs to Myrtilla<\/i>] were
\nwritten in England
\nexcept five later ones which were written after his return to India.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nnot unlikely that "Baji Prabhou" and "Vidula" \u2014 two of the
\nlonger poems that belong to Sri Aurobindo”s early period \u2014 had been actually
\nwritten, or at least mentally sketched, during his last years in Baroda.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, these
\npoems were conceived and written in Bengal during the
\ntime of political activity.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri
\nAurobindo was preoccupied, even when he was but a conscientious teacher or an accomplished
\npoet…with the problem of service and of sacrifice…. From the very first the
\nidea of personal salvation or of individual felicity was utterly repugnant to
\nhim.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"Utterly
\nrepugnant" \u2014 this is a little too strong. It was rather that it did not seem
\nanything like a supreme aim or worth being pursued for its own sake; a solitary
\nsalvation leaving the world to its fate was felt as almost distasteful. <\/p>\n

Page – 12<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

While
\nengaged in Baroda State Service Sri Aurobindo began to think incessantly if some
\nopportunity could not be found for service in the larger life of Bengal, of the
\nIndian nation itself.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He had
\nalready in England
\ndecided to devote his life to the service of his country and its liberation.
\nHe even began soon after coming to India
\nto write on political matters (without giving his name) in the daily press,
\ntrying to awaken the nation to the ideas of the future. But those were not well
\nreceived by the leaders of the time, they succeeded in preventing further
\npublication and he drew back into silence. But he did not abandon either his
\nideas or his hope of an effective action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nTHE ARTICLES IN THE "INDU PRAKASH<\/b>"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfacts about the articles in the Indu Prakash<\/i> were these. They were begun
\nat the instance of K. G. Deshpande, Sri Aurobindo’s Cambridge
\nfriend who was editor of the paper, but the first two articles made a sensation
\nand frightened Ranade and other Congress leaders. Ranade warned the proprietor
\nof the paper that, if this went on, he would surely be prosecuted for sedition.
\nAccordingly the original plan of the series had to be dropped at the
\nproprietor’s instance. Deshpande requested Sri Aurobindo to continue in a
\nmodified tone and he reluctantly consented, but felt no farther interest and
\nthe articles were published at long intervals and finally dropped of themselves
\naltogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nseries of articles he wrote in the "Indu Prakash" were on Indian
\ncivilisation, entitled: "New Lamps for Old."<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This title
\ndid not refer to Indian civilisation but to Congress politics. It is not used
\nin the sense of the Aladdin story, but was intended to imply the offering of
\nnew lights to replace the old and faint reformist lights of the Congress.<\/p>\n

He sent some of his
\nfriends, at <\/i>Baroda<\/i>
\nand <\/i>Bombay<\/i>,<\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 13<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

to <\/i>Bengal<\/i>
\nto prepare for the revolutionary movement.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was not any of his
\nfriends at Baroda and in Bombay
\nwho went to Bengal on his behalf. His first emissary was
\na young Bengali who had by the help of Sri Aurobindo’s friends in the Baroda
\nArmy enlisted as trooper in the cavalry regiment in spite of the prohibition by
\nthe British Government of the enlistment of any Bengali in any army in India.
\nThis man who was exceedingly energetic and capable, formed a first group in Calcutta
\nwhich grew rapidly (afterwards many branches were established); he also entered
\ninto relations with P. Mitter and other revolutionaries already at work in the
\nprovince. He was joined afterwards by Barin who had in the interval come to Baroda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At this time there was
\nat <\/i>Bombay<\/i> a secret
\nsociety headed by a Rajput prince of <\/i>Udaipur<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Rajput leader was not
\na prince, that is to say, a Ruling Chief but a noble of the Udaipur
\n State with the title of Thakur. The
\nThakur was not a member of the Council in Bombay;
\nhe stood above it as the leader of the whole movement while the Council helped
\nhim to organise Maharashtra and the Mahratta
\n States. He himself worked
\nprincipally upon the Indian Army of which he had already won over two or three
\nregiments. Sri Aurobindo took a special journey into Central India
\nto meet and speak with Indian sub-officers and men of one of these regiments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During his stay at <\/i>Baroda<\/i>
\nSri Aurobindo got into touch with men that counted, groups that counted. He
\nwent to <\/i>Bengal<\/i> "to see what was the
\nhope of revival, what was the political condition of the people, and whether there
\nwas the possibility of a real movement".<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It might be added that he
\nhad begun a work that was still nameless; and it was in the course of that
\nwork that he went to Bengal "to see what was the
\nhope of revival, etc."<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Since 1900 Sri Aurobindo had
\nwished to enter the political<\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 14<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nfray and to contribute
\nhis mite to the forces that were seriously working for <\/i>India<\/i>‘s
\nredemption and rehabilitation. He held private talks, he corresponded, he put
\npressure on front-rank leaders; but as yet he could do little.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This does not give a
\ncorrect idea. He had already joined with some of the more advanced leaders to
\norganise bodies for political action which would act when the time for action
\ncame;\u00b9 <\/sup>it was only in public as yet that he could do little.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even his own intrepid <\/i>province<\/i>
\n of <\/i>Bengal<\/i> was in no
\nmood to be persuaded by him and his gospel of virile nationalism.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was anything but
\nintrepid at the time; it was the mantra<\/i> of Bande Mataram and the leap
\ninto revolutionary action that changed the people of the province.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He found that in <\/i>Bengal<\/i>
\n"the prevailing mood was apathy and despair. There was no other go except
\nto bide his time.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It should be added,
\n"and to continue his political work behind the scenes in silence. The
\nmoment for public work had not yet come".<\/p>\n

Once<\/span> his work was started he continued it until circumstances
\nmade it possible to join in a public movement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While in <\/i>Baroda<\/i>
\n <\/i>State<\/i> Service he
\nvisited from time to time his grandfather in <\/i>Bengal<\/i>.
\nHis visits were<\/i> f<\/span>or political
\npurposes.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/span>1<\/span><\/sup><\/span>The programme of this organisation was at first Swaraj,
\nSwadeshi, Boycott \u2014 Swaraj meaning to it complete independence. The word Swaraj
\nwas first used by the Bengali-Maratha publicist, Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar,
\nwriter of Desher Katha,<\/i> a book compiling all the details of India’s economic
\nservitude which had an enormous influence on the young men of Bengal and helped
\nto turn them into revolutionaries. The word was taken up as their ideal by the
\nrevolutionary party and popularised by the vernacular paper Sandhya<\/i>
\nedited by Brahmabandhab Upadhyaya; it was caught hold of by Dadabhai Naoroji
\nat the Calcutta Congress as the equivalent of colonial self-government but did
\nnot long retain that depreciated value. Sri Aurobindo was the first to use its
\nEnglish equivalent "independence" and reiterate it constantly in the Bande
\nMataram<\/i> as the one and immediate aim of national politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 15<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This is not correct. In
\nthese visits he was not concerned with politics. It was some years afterwards
\nthat he made a journey along with Devabrata Bose, Barin’s co-adjutant in the Yugantar,
\n<\/i>partly to visit some of the revolutionary centres already formed, but also
\nto meet leading men in the districts and find out the general attitude of the
\ncountry and the possibilities of the revolutionary movement. His experience in
\nthis journey persuaded him that secret action or preparation by itself was not
\nlikely to be effective if there were not also a wide public movement which
\nwould create a universal patriotic fervour and popularise the idea of
\nindependence as the ideal and aim of Indian politics. It was this conviction
\nthat determined his later action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nSTAY AT DEOGHAR
\nDURING DECEMBER 1906 TO APRIL 1907<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo always
\nstayed at Deoghar with the family of his maternal grandfather Raj Narayan Bose.
\nThe beaux-parents <\/i>did not live at Deoghar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Among
\nthe leading lights of the day was P. Mitter who was an out-and-out man of
\naction.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P. Mitter had a spiritual
\nlife and aspiration and a strong religious feeling; he was like Bepin Pal and
\nseveral other prominent leaders of the new nationalist movement in Bengal,
\na disciple of the famous Yogi Bejoy Goswami, but he did not bring these things
\ninto his politics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri
\nAurobindo was influenced by the patriotic fervour of Swami Vivekananda’s
\nutterances.1<\/sup><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo was not
\naware of this speech or of any political action by Vivekananda. He had only
\nheard casually of Vivekananda’s intense patriotic feelings which inspired
\nSister Nivedita.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/sup> In
\nVivekananda’s speech "The Mission of the Vedanta" delivered at
\nKumbhakonam.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 16<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nAllan Hume had founded
\nthe Indian National Congress to act as an intermediary for bringing together
\nthe \u00e9lite of the English and the Indian peoples to promote discussions,
\nreforms, etc.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This description of the Congress
\nas an intermediary, etc., would hardly have been recognised or admitted by the
\nCongress itself at that time. The British Government also would not have
\nrecognised it. It regarded the institution with dislike and ignored it as much
\nas possible. Also, Sri Aurobindo was totally opposed to making any approach on
\nbehalf of the nation to the British Government; he regarded the Congress policy
\nas a process of futile petition and protest and considered self-help,
\nnon-cooperation and organisation of all forces in the nation for revolution\u00adary
\naction as the sole effective policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo did not
\nbelieve in, nor did he like, violent revolution.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThis is incorrect. If Sri Aurobindo had not believed
\nin the efficacy of violent revolution or had disliked it, he would not have
\njoined the secret society whose purpose was to prepare a national insurrection.
\nHis historical studies had not taught him the lesson indicated here. On the
\ncontrary, he had studied with interest the revolutions and rebellions which led
\nto national liberation, the struggle against the English in mediaeval <\/font> <\/span>
\nFrance<\/font><\/span> and the revolts which liberated <\/font> <\/span>
\nAmerica<\/font><\/span> and <\/font> <\/span>
\nItaly<\/font><\/span>. He took much of his inspiration
\nfrom these movements and their leaders, especially, Jeanne d’Arc and Mazzini.
\nIn his public activity he took up non-cooperation and passive resistance as a
\nmeans in the struggle for independence but not the sole means and as long as he
\nwas in <\/font> <\/span>Bengal<\/font><\/span> he maintained a secret revolutionary
\nactivity as a preparation for open revolt, in case passive resistance proved
\ninsufficient for the purpose.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>SWADESHI, PARNELLISM AND THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nSri Aurobindo’s policy in <\/span>India<\/span> was not based on Parnellism. It<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 17<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

had more resemblance to
\nSinn Fein but was conceived before the Sinn Fein movement and was therefore not
\ninspired by it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo had
\nacquired a measure of intellectual pre-eminence as a result of his stay in <\/i>England<\/i>;
\nbut that was not enough, and he was certainly not happy. His deeper
\nperplexities remained; he did not know what exactly he should do to make
\nhimself useful to his countrymen or how he should set about doing it. He
\nturned to Yoga so that he might be enabled to clarify his own floating ideas
\nand impulses and also, if possible, perfect the hidden instrument within.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was no unhappiness.
\n"Perplexities" also is too strong. Sri Aurobindo’s habit in action
\nwas not to devise beforehand and plan but to keep a fixed purpose, watch
\nevents, prepare forces and act when he felt it to be the right moment. His first
\norganised work in politics (grouping people who accepted the idea of
\nindependence and were prepared to take up an appropriate action) was
\nundertaken at an early age, but took a regular shape in or about 1902; two
\nyears later he began his practice of Yoga \u2014 not to clarify his ideas, but to
\nfind the spiritual strength which would support him and enlighten his way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He met Brahmananda on
\nthe banks of the Narmada for advice on national education activities.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo saw
\nBrahmananda long before there was any question of national education
\nactivities. Brahmananda never gave him any counsel or advice nor was there any
\nconversation between them; Sri Aurobindo went to his monastery only for darśana<\/i>
\nand blessings. Barin had a close connection with Ganganath and his Guru was one
\nof the Sannyasis who surrounded Brahmananda, but the connection with Ganganath
\nwas spiritual only.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On commencing his
\nsilent Yoga at Pondicherry Sri Aurobindo presently outgrew the instructions
\nthat had<\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 18<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

been given to him by Lele and his
\npredecessors.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That was done long before
\nthe sojourn in Pondicherry. There were no predecessors. Sri Aurobindo had some
\nconnection with a member of the governing body of the Naga Sannyasis who gave
\nhim a mantra <\/i> of Kali (or rather a stotra)<\/i> and conducted certain kriyās<\/i>
\nand a Vedic yaj\u00f1a,<\/i> but all this was for political success in his mission
\nand not for Yoga.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the Baroda
\nperiod Sri Aurobindo met, one by one, Sri Hamsa Swamp Swami, Sri Sadguru Brahmananda and Sri Madhavdas…. He had even exchanged spiritual pulses with
\nhis first gurus.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He had momentary contacts
\nwith Brahmananda, but as a great Yogin, not as a Guru \u2014 only darśana<\/i> and
\nblessings. There was no contact with the others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aravinda Babu used to
\nattend the lectures of the Swami \u2014 Paramahamsa Maharaj Indraswarup \u2014 with much
\ninterest … personally met him and learnt about āsanas and prāṇāyāma.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Only heard his lecture at
\nthe [Gaekwar’s] Palace, did not go to see him, did not practise prāṇāyāma<\/i>
\ntill long afterwards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He met the saint
\nMadhavdas at Malsar on the banks of the Narmada and learnt about Yoga-āsanas.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Visited, probably with
\nDeshpande, one or two places on the banks of the Narmada, but no recollection
\nof Malsar or Madhavdas, certainly no effect of the meeting, if it happened at
\nall.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thus it may be said
\nthat Aravinda Babu started taking interest in Yoga from 1898-99.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No. I did not start Yoga
\ntill about 1904.<\/p>\n

\nPage – 19<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sri Aurobindo began
\npractising Yoga on his own account, starting with prāṇāyāma<\/i>
\nas explained to him by a friend, a disciple of Brahmananda. Afterwards faced
\nwith difficulties, he took the help of Lele who was called for the purpose from
\nGwalior by Barindra \u2014 this was after the Surat Congress in 1908.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nSuch guidance as he received from his
\nearliest gurus and such partial realisation as he was then able to achieve only
\nreinforced his faith in Yoga as the sole cure for his own "rooted
\nsorrow" and for the manifold ills of humanity.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Sri Aurobindo put an
\ninterrogation mark against the word "gurus".)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was no resort to
\nYoga as a cure for sorrow; there was no sorrow to cure. He had always in him a
\nconsiderable equanimity in his nature in face of the world and its
\ndifficulties, and after some inward depression in his adolescence (not due to
\nany outward circumstances, and not amounting to sorrow or melancholy, for it
\nwas only a strain in the temperament), this became fairly settled.<\/p>\n

\nPage – 20<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

II. LIFE IN BARODA: 1893-1906 \u00a0APPOINTMENTS IN BARODA STATE .   He was first put in the Land Settlement Department, for a short time in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-26-on-himself-volume-26","wpcat-11-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}